topic Re: Need a new laptop. Help please! in SmorgasBoard

Need a new laptop. Help please!

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:13:22 GMT

Well I think its time for a new laptop. I have an almost 5 year old HP Pavilion that is not doing too great. The CD drive doesn't work anymore, the battery won't hold a charge for more than a few minutes and my 2 year old daughter decided to pull about 7 or 8 keys from the keyboard and strategically place (hide) them throughout the house.

My budget is $700 to $800. I don't need anything fancy. I surf the web (myfico), create word and powerpoint documents (among my other hobbies I'm a full time student). I'm not a gamer or anything so it doesn't need to be super fast.

I don't know much about the technical side of computers so I get a little confused with the specs when researching laptops. I basically compare the specs to my current laptop and go from there.

Anyway, if anyone out there has a recomendation based on experiance, hearsay, coin flipping or anything else I'm all ears (or eyes I guess). Just looking for the best bang for my buck.

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:27:00 GMT

Honestly for this kind of capability you don't need to spend anywhere near the money you are talking about.

Acer make a laptop which is not the lightest (weighs 6lbs, so still totally transportable) but has a 15" screen, CD & DVD RW drives as well as read, 2GB of DDR2 Ram, 160GB hard drive, built in wireless, digital card reader, usb ports and an AMD Athlon TF-20 processor (quicker than the Intel ones and is 64 bit) etc etc, you can also buy MS Office for students for another $90 if you want the most up to date of that or if you don't have the CDs.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9396851&type=product&id=1218099043398 is $279.99

If you want a little higher spec then they have the dual processor version for another $100 on top of that (and in blue) which has a larger hard drive @ 250GB, bigger screen, more processing power, 3GB of DDR2, built in wireless and usb ports and digital card reader, built in webcam and built in speakers and subwoofer... still all well under your budget at $379.99 (this one weighs 7.5lbs so also still portable)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9459711&type=product&id=1218108085016&IcsCsid=39-446-25-5-32872-21-34542-2007-0-5

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:45:42 GMT

Thanks Susyquk,

I have been looking on the Best Buy website for a while now and have never run across these laptops. Probably because I was looking at the more expensive ones. These would really fit the bill so to speak. Their specs are about twice what my current laptop is for a lot less then what I paid 5 years ago.

Thanks again I will be seriously considering the Acer.

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

Anonymous — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:43:34 GMT

No worries, my company just bought about 150 of these for use in the hospital on my recommendation for the type of admin work they were needed for - they better be good therefore

lol i also bought one for my brother in law as a birthday gift for his school work (the more expensive one so he had the webcam etc) and he loves it

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:51:15 GMT

We have Toshiba Satellite laptops. They seem to be good for about 2-3 years and then crap out for various reasons.

DD#1 just replaced hers with another cheapo after 3 years. Hers started having troubles starting up. Not all that often, but she needs it to be reliable for school, so now DH has it for his very intermittent computer usage. DD#2's laptop seemed to lose its wireless abilities. Mine runs hot, but it seems to be mostly OK. So I just bought a refurbed MacBook Pro, and DD#2 will get my hot-but-runs laptop.

Anyway, to boil something useful out of all that drivel, Toshiba laptops are pretty decent deals for a couple of years. Computer technology changes frequently, so if you can get a good deal on a Toshiba, I'd say go with that, without expecting it to last forever. Look at it this way --if you get one for $730, and it lasts for two years, that's a dollar a day. Any cheaper than that (and you should be able to find a deal way cheaper than that) means under a dollar a day.

I just turned mine upside down, and it appears that mine is an A135. Already obsolete, of course.

Message Edited by haulingthescoreup on 08-20-2009 03:51 PM

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

MattH — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:28:53 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Well I think its time for a new laptop. I have an almost 5 year old HP Pavilion that is not doing too great. The CD drive doesn't work anymore, the battery won't hold a charge for more than a few minutes and my 2 year old daughter decided to pull about 7 or 8 keys from the keyboard and strategically place (hide) them throughout the house.

My budget is $700 to $800. I don't need anything fancy. I surf the web (myfico), create word and powerpoint documents (among my other hobbies I'm a full time student). I'm not a gamer or anything so it doesn't need to be super fast.

I don't know much about the technical side of computers so I get a little confused with the specs when researching laptops. I basically compare the specs to my current laptop and go from there.

Anyway, if anyone out there has a recomendation based on experiance, hearsay, coin flipping or anything else I'm all ears (or eyes I guess). Just looking for the best bang for my buck.

Google "netbook" and you'll see that many companies now offer tiny laptops for under 300 bucks that should do what you need, I have one that I got December 2008 and it works great (in fact, many of my postings here were typed on it, though I'm typing this on a 2006-vintage Toshiba laptop). The main downside is these do have small screens and keyboards, and also lack optical drives, so for home use with my netbook I plug in an LCD panel, USB optical drive, USB keyboard, and USB mouse. Mine happens to be an Acer Aspire One but I believe many others should be comparable.

Message Edited by MattH on 08-20-2009 07:28 PM

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

haulingthescoreup — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:52:16 GMT

DS took a notebook to the beach with us last week. He basically liked it, but a lot of what he did duplicates what he can do with his Verizon LG phone, and there were a lot of things it couldn't do. So it was sort of an enhanced version of his phone, but not as strong as a full laptop.

He bought his with the expectation that he might well return it, swallowing the restocking fee. This might be a plan for you --buy one, and mentally reserve the restocking fee. If it's not what you want, then let it go.

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:34:34 GMT

Brands that I recommend staying away from: Toshiba. I have had several and all have trouble within a couple years (as mentioned by HTSU). Had drive failures, CD/DVD drive failures.

Brands that I can recommend: Sony, Fujitsu & mid to upper level HP. I have had several of each of these and they have lasted for years. You can't beat a good Sony Vaio. Fujitsu Lifebooks are good. Don't go with lowend HP/Compaq, buy 'up' a level or two for reliability. I have had good experience with several Dell d610 as well.

Acer, my brother has one (actually his wife) and have had it for several years without major issues.

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

Math_Rocks — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 00:38:05 GMT

I know there are always exceptions (good and bad) with any brand but my very expensive HP (employer bought) just died at 21 months and at the worst time possible. Still waiting to find out if it can be fixed or they will be getting me a new one. Either way, right before classes begin, this is sooo inconvenient.

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:10:55 GMT

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
. Mine runs hot, but it seems to be mostly OK. So I just bought a refurbed MacBook Pro, and DD#2 will get my hot-but-runs laptop.

olol... now don't get me wrong, I love my MacBook Pro more than anything in this world (other than my mom and husband) but you don't know hot until you own one of these... seriously, my friend fell asleep with his in his lap and when he woke up took a half inch circle of skin with the laptop when he moved it off his legs! Don't fall asleep with it on you!

However 4 years in to having it I have only had to replace one part (the fan) at a cost of $82 although the battery now only lasts about 45 mins so I do need to replace that which will be another $100 but it's still one of the loves of my life

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

nothingman02 — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:13:35 GMT

If you want the quality and reliability, OP, id suggest a Sony or a Lenovo(IBM). Very sturdy and reliable and dont breakdown as quickly as the others. You can definitely get one of these with a good config within your budget.

I often browse the following websites for deals.

dealstobuy.com

edealinfo.com

tigerdirect.com

bestbuy.com

You could else go for HP. They are pretty good. Else, compaq, dell, acer etc.

For most applications and multitasking (other than gaming), a typical processor would do. You would need substantial RAM (2GB or more) for windows vista. 1 gig will do for an XP in which case you could find a lenovo for 500 bucks. Some business laptops have an option to downgrade to XP and most laptops otherwise have an option to upgrade from vista to 7 which are not very different. If you are familiar with linux, thats a very good option.

You could look for the following;

1) Processors: pentium, pentium dual core, core duo, 2 duo, turion etc. Avoid anthlons and celerons and atoms.

2) RAM: Look for 1GB or atleast 2 GB for vista. You would need atleast 4 gb RAM for a 64 bit processor. And the fastest FSB possible. I think the best that are in offer right now are 800MHz.

3) Aesthetics: screen size (15 is good), keyboard quality and comfort, general design, weight, color, number of ports etc.

HDD, video ram, cache etc are usually more than sufficient in all the available models and need not be a major concern.

As long as you take of them, dont drop them when they are ON if not at all, are careful with the adapter pin etc etc, they'll last a few years. Around 2-3 after which it would come down to the brand itself and this is another area where a sony or a lenovo will outdo others. When it comes to cellphones and laptops, I look for the best bang for my buck rather than the long term usage as in my case, I know I will keep changing them. If you are looking for somethign for long term, maybe you could spend more now and get the best one out there. Good luck.

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 03:59:43 GMT

Thanks everyone for the replies. I really think that the Acer laptop would fit what I need. And what a great price. At this point I would only need something to get me through my last 2 years of college and then could get something that would have more bells and whistles.

I really have enjoyed my HP laptop. I was looking at HP's but they seemed really expensive at this point. If I could get an Acer for $400 and it lasted at least 2 years that would be great. Until a better paycheck starts coming in.

Those new netbooks look really cool. But I would really like to have a dvd drive. My daughters like to watch movies on the laptop (well they did before the drive went out).

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

MattH — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:54:14 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks everyone for the replies. I really think that the Acer laptop would fit what I need. And what a great price. At this point I would only need something to get me through my last 2 years of college and then could get something that would have more bells and whistles.

I really have enjoyed my HP laptop. I was looking at HP's but they seemed really expensive at this point. If I could get an Acer for $400 and it lasted at least 2 years that would be great. Until a better paycheck starts coming in.

Those new netbooks look really cool. But I would really like to have a dvd drive. My daughters like to watch movies on the laptop (well they did before the drive went out).

There are plenty of USB optical drives available for netbooks.

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:29:41 GMT

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2338427,00.asp

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

haulingthescoreup — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:18:03 GMT

Susyquk wrote:

@haulingthescoreup wrote:
. Mine runs hot, but it seems to be mostly OK. So I just bought a refurbed MacBook Pro, and DD#2 will get my hot-but-runs laptop.

olol... now don't get me wrong, I love my MacBook Pro more than anything in this world (other than my mom and husband) but you don't know hot until you own one of these... seriously, my friend fell asleep with his in his lap and when he woke up took a half inch circle of skin with the laptop when he moved it off his legs! Don't fall asleep with it on you!

However 4 years in to having it I have only had to replace one part (the fan) at a cost of $82 although the battery now only lasts about 45 mins so I do need to replace that which will be another $100 but it's still one of the loves of my life

lol, good to know. So far, it's cool (in all senses of the word.) I forgot to shut it down last night, so it's been on for 24 hours, and I'm still on battery. Amazing.

The Genius at the local store (I immediately got lost in password heck and had to go in for a rescue) said that it's actually the current model. Someone must have gotten buyer's remorse and returned it. So anyway, a new 15.4" MBP for $1,450, no sales tax (state sales tax weekend) and free shipping. Happy, happy so far! Well, other than the M on the keyboard which appears to be an upside-down W.

I looooooove the backlit keyboard...

(sorry for the jack, OP --it looks like you've gotten the info you need. DS has an Acer desktop, and he's been happy with it for a couple of years. And he seriously wears that thing out.)

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 14:57:08 GMT

Well here is the laptop I ordered.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146581

I was all set to order the Acer from Best Buy but it was not available online nor was it available at my local store. I checked out a few sites and this Lenovo from newegg seemed fit what I needed and came at a pretty good price.

Feel free to let me know if you think its a good deal or not. Thanks.

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

BungalowMo — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:07:33 GMT

I bought mine here: DELL Outlet

I got a refurb Inspiron 1720, dual core, 40 G HD, can't remember how much memory but several Gigs... about $500 will full warranty.

NO problems & had it almost a year.

Punch in your spec's & just watch. Page updates & new stuff added all the time.

Message Edited by BungalowMo on 08-22-2009 11:07 AM

Re: Need a new laptop. Help please!

Anonymous — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 15:49:35 GMT

just bought 2 toshibas at walmart. on sale for 348 and warranty for three years. they had acers on sale also.